More of a Guy Thing
by kyntyre
Summary: Drakken figures out exactly how to dispose of Kim Possible AND swipe the powers of Team Go…the only question is, can Shego handle her job in this? Rating changed to M for gore. Though I'm a prude, so maybe it's not… Title is changed from "A Good Boy."
1. The New Kid

"Kim, did you get a load of the new boy?" Bonnie asked venomously in cheer practice. "He's totally hot and he's _totally _into me! Squee!"

Kim sighed. Every school year brought new students but they didn't usually get the attention that she could tell this boy was going to receive.

The other cheerleaders agreed with Bonnie.

"You should totally ask him out to the dance," one said.

"No, no, no, it's not the same if _he_ doesn't ask you!" crowed another.

"Oh, he _will_ ask me, girls," Bonnie said with a dangerous glance at Kim. "By the time this week is out I'll have him on his knees."

All of a sudden the Kimmunicator began to beep. "Better get that," Kim sighed, not exactly averse to an excuse to get out of the gym today. "Wade, what's the sitch?"

"Hi Kim. Shego and Drakken had a fight, Drakken's got Mego in a shatterproof jar, and I've tracked Shego to Middleton High."

"Should I go rescue Mego?"

"Look, I think you better find out what's doing with Shego first. You're at school, right?"

"Yup."

"Check it out and get back to me, okay?"

"Sure thing."

Kim went into the hallway and began to think of where her nemesis might go. She went to the office.

"Hi, is Miss Go back?" she asked the nasty secretary, who shook her head.

"We haven't been able to track Miss Go even for her paycheck from last year."

Kim had an idea. "Are there any new students who look like her, or visitors in the building?"

"There is a student who looks like her. He's in detention with Mr. Barkin."

"Right," Kim said, inwardly wondering what would make Shego encase her own brother in a jar and switch genders. It really didn't sound like her at all. Either way, it was worth a try. Kim looked at the secretary.

"Do you have another copy of the school calendar?" she asked. The secretary got up and went into a back room, mumbling about the intrinsic evil of teenagers. Kim took her deliberately opened opportunity to swipe a detention pass. Mr. Barkin wrote so many he wouldn't remember writing an individual one, would he? Kim forged the pass, took the calendar, thanked the secretary sweetly, and went to her least favorite teacher's classroom.

"Sorry I'm late, Mr. Barkin, I forgot," she said. "I was supposed to pick up my brothers and I had to get my mom to do it so I could come here."

"Well I guess that sounds responsible enough…" Barkin drawled. "Sit in the back, next to the new kid, Sean."

Kim looked to the back of the room. The new boy had shiny black hair, short but not too short. He was staring dejectedly down at the floor. _He was wearing a green and black jumpsuit._

Kim sat next to him and, so that it would be perceived as an accident if she was wrong, whispered, _Shego_, quieter than the wind.

The boy looked up, displaying a black soul patch and heavy eyebrows.

"Hey princess."

"Why are you here, Shego?" Kim asked. Shego took out an index card and wrote, _A mission. I'll tell anything you want to know after detention. And call me Sean so I don't get arrested. Though no one could prove it was me._

"Right."

The bell rang. Everyone ran out. Kim looked at Shego. "Why are you willing to tell me everything?"

"Because I need your help."

Kim realized that Shego's voice had dropped an octave since last they'd met.

"Shego, you can talk to me in a normal voice."

"No, I can't. Kim, this _is_ my normal voice now. Drakken used a sex-change ray to turn me into a boy, and he's got my brother Mego trapped in his lair, and he destroyed the sex-change ray. He says he'll make a reverse for it and let my brother go if I do what he sent me here to do."

"Why'd he send you here?"

"Kim, hold your fire, because I won't do it––I really never would, though you might think otherwise––but I'm supposed to kill you. The only reason I came here is to ask for your help. You're the only other person I know who can defeat Drakken. Please?"

Kim thought for a moment.

"Come on, don't make me get on my knees––"

"I'd be one up on Bonnie Rockwaller––"

"What?"

"Never mind."

"And I really have to pee!"

"So go to the bathroom."

"No, no, I'm not brave enough to see my new––you know."

"Come on, Shego, I've been a boy before too. I was trapped in Ron's body once, remember? Are you saying I'm the better man?"

Shego managed to smile, and Kim could tell that smiling was the last thing the girl wanted to do. "Thanks pumpkin."

In a moment of overwhelming sympathy Kim made to hug Shego but hesitated, but when Shego closed the distance between them, Kim couldn't do anything _but _hug her usual nemesis. At that instant, Bonnie Rockwaller came into the hallway. Kim flashed her an evil grin and ran her fingers lustfully through Shego's short hair. By the time Bonnie was in the next corridor, Kim was simultaneously feeling victorious and absolutely, irrevocably disgusted with herself.

"So…will you help me?" Shego asked.

"Yes, but I gotta ask you a favor too. You don't have to––"

"Anything!" Shego sighed reverently.

"Be my date at the dance on Saturday night."

"Say _what_? Don't you have a boyfriend who'd kick my ass?"

"Not if we explained it to him first. And don't you have superpowers?"

"Drakken. Fucking. Took. Them. Don't get me started, princess."

"Shego, where are you staying?"

"I didn't check into a hotel yet. And I can't drive because _Sean_ doesn't have a license. If I get pulled over the deal's shot."

"Go pee and then I'll drive you to my house. You can stay in our guest room again."

"You rock, pumpkin," Shego said and slipped into the boys' room. When she came back out, she followed Kim to the Sloth and put her head in her hands.

"I'd forgotten how merciless high school is from the receiving end," she said. Kim smiled grimly.

"So glad I'm a senior," she sighed.

"Oh," Shego said quietly, "hey, I don't usually ever say this word, but I'm sorry."

"Sorry for what?"

"Sorry for all the horrible shit I've done to you––especially pressuring you into that double-date with Mr. Barkin. What was I _thinking_?!"

"You were good," Kim said with a laugh. "Too good. The Attitudinator sort of makes you behave like a child. You didn't know any better."

"I know I say this even more rarely, but you're a nice girl, Kimmie. Thanks for taking me in."

"No big," Kim said with a smile. "Want to go hang somewhere?"

"Whatever you say, princess."

"Hey, since you don't have your powers right now and because I usually kick your ass anyway, if we fought right now, how easily would I win?"

"Ha. Touché," said the boy beside her.

"How was the bathroom?"

"It was disturbing, but not as bad as I thought," Shego replied.

"It freaked the hell out of you, didn't it?"

"Fuck yeah."

"So should we get your other brothers in on this?"

"No 'cause the second they walk through the door to Drakken's lair they'll be sapped of their powers. We should leave them out of this, because they'll throw their powers away to do the right thing, and once Drakken crushes everyone standing in his way, he'll destroy life as we know it."

"Are you scared that you won't get changed back?"

"Every second."

"Why are you suddenly so open instead of bitchy and sarcastic?"

"Gee thanks, princess. It's been a long time coming, but what Drakken did this time was the straw that broke the camel's back. I mean, I couldn't walk for an hour. But it made me see that evil hurts people, and I didn't really realize before exactly what that meant. Kimmie, I used to be a hero. Now I think it's time I turned back. That's all."

"Wow, if I had a nickel for every time you said that, I'd have a nickel," Kim said.

"Seriously, princess, that's like the sorriest phrase I've ever heard pass over your lips."

"Yeah, you're right. Too much Ron, I guess." Kim drove in silence for a minute before throwing her old rival another curveball question. "Did it hurt––your transformation?"

"I lost consciousness."

"That bad?"

"Yeah, Kimmie," Shego said heavily, "that bad."

"Are you having boy thoughts or girl thoughts?"

"It's a little early to get a read. I'm sure the testosterone will take over my brain soon just like every other poor schmuck out there who's unfortunate enough to have a pair."

"Shego, I'll help you. That's a promise," Kim said.

"I don't deserve your kindness," Shego said sadly.

"You're not forcing me to help you," Kim argued. "Anyway, I kind of always wished we could be friends."

"Me too, sweetheart."

"And I wish Miss Go could've stuck around a little longer."

"Kids these days…gahhh!"


	2. Still a Problem

"So you're saying that if you just killed Kimmie-cub you'd save your brother and get turned into a girl again," Mrs. Dr. Possible said that night over dinner.

"Pretty much," Shego affirmed.

"What's the catch?" Mr. Dr. Possible asked. Aside from Shego, Kim's dad was the most naturally sarcastic person she knew. Shego wasn't expecting this, and she seemed to take it how most people took _her_ sarcasm: right between the eyes.

"Dad, go easy on her. It's obvious that she's not going to hurt me. She asked me for help. And she's making a great sacrifice by not killing me. Two, actually."

"It's not entirely an act of love, princess," Shego said, "I don't kill. Seriously. Every time I helped Drakken try, I made sure that if the victim was smart––which _you_ are, very smart––you could find a way out."

"Why?" Kim asked, "and thanks."

"It's just not something I do," she shrugged. "And after all we've been through, don't you think killing you might come off a little unprofessional?"

She tried to smile and Kim deflected the dry comic relief back at her. She reached for Shego's hand but the raven-haired boy evaded her with an apology.

"I understand."

Jim and Tim finished their dinner and excused themselves, leaving Kim and Shego with Kim's parents.

"Shego, did I ever tell you about my black hole machine?" Dr. Mr. asked.

"Dad!" Kim admonished. "Leave her _alone_ or she sleeps in my bed."

Shego blushed and put her head down as if trying to avoid a heart attack, but Kim's dad just paled.

"Shego, what's wrong?" Kim asked.

"Remember when we were talking about boy thoughts?" Shego asked, mortified.

"Oh, this is all my fault. Forget what I said. I was trying to stick up for you––"

"I know, princess. I know. Don't worry." She shot Kim the most horrible, beautiful, kind, wonderful, painstaking smile the redheaded teenager had ever seen. A single tear escaped Kim's left eye, and Shego brushed it away.

Mr. Possible was fuming, but Mrs. Possible guided him to the next room and came back. She sat at Shego's left when she returned, Kim seated at the new boy's right.

"There, there," she crooned. "It'll stop in a second, Shego…"

"Kimmie, Dr. Possible, please––get your husband, and don't come back in here."

"Hang in there, Shego," Kim whispered.

"Honey," Mrs. Possible said to her husband, "she wants you. Please be nice."

"Oh, I'll show him _nice_…"

"Dad, never mind, you'll just hurt her…"

"Kimmie, it's okay, just let him come in," Shego called.

"Please, Dad?" Kim said, turning on the Puppy-Dog Pout full blast.

"Oh, alright, I guess I can be nice to the little twerp."

"Love you."

At last, Kim was alone with her mother.

"Are you alright, Kimmie-cub?"

"I'm just worried about Shego," Kim replied. "She's having such a hard time with this. Who would've thought that she'd find a challenge in anything? I thought she was perfect, but I guess it's nice to know she's not."

"Poor girl," her mom agreed. "There was obviously no way she could prepare for this. You're right. It's way too much for her. She really can't turn back?"

"It's like she said. Drakken wrecked the machine and he'll only fix it if she kills me, which is something she'll never do. Gosh, she didn't go to the bathroom till she found me, and then I had to give her a pep talk and remind her that I've had the fully detailed boys' potty experience myself. I used some completely amateur reverse psychology and asked her if she thought maybe I was the better man. It made her smile long enough to pee, at least."

"Well, maybe between you, you can find a way to fake the murder safely," Anne said. Her daughter smiled. "Safely!" the mother repeated. "Safe for _both _of you." She raised an eyebrow at her daughter.

"That's it!" Kim exclaimed. She ran back into the breakfast nook. "Shego!" The person she was looking for turned her into a projectile, and all too fast. Luckily she broke the fall with her hands.

"Shego, what're you doing on the floor?"

"Push-ups."

Suddenly her dad was walking away whistling very loudly.

"You okay now?"

"Yeah. I'm sorry, Kim. Where's your mom?"

"The living room. Why?"

"Dr. Possible, I wanted to offer you my most abject apologies. Emphasis on the word 'abject,'" Shego said to Kim's mom, who flashed a warm smile and waved the apology off.

"I'm sorry about my husband, sweetheart, but are you feeling better?"

"Apart from the overwhelming urge to die, you mean?"

"Yeah."

"Then yes. Goodnight, Dr. Possible. Tell your husband…thanks."

"Why, what happened?" Mrs. Possible's expression darkened considerably.

"Dad forced Shego to do push-ups on the kitchen floor. It could've killed both of us, right?"

Shego shrugged. "I give up villainy and I'm still a problem. Don't sweat it, Dr. Possible. Sorry I tripped you, Kim."

"Oh, I'm sweating it alright. James!"

Mrs. Dr. Possible threw down her magazine stormed out of the living room, her hands balled into fists.

"Come on, Shego," Kim said gently. "I'll show you to your room. Do you think you can beat down the 'urge to die' till the morning?"

"I'm stronger than I give myself credit for, so I guess I could possibly hang in there a couple more hours." She smiled wryly. "Why?"

"So I can see your face again. Look, my mom gave me a fantastic idea. Why don't we stage my death?"

"Stage your death?" Shego said thoughtfully. She smiled. "I like the way you––I mean your mom––thinks. That doesn't mean I like your mom. Or you. That way. Agghhh," she sighed, slapping her hand over her eyes. "This is such a mess. I'm sorry for––you know, you took health."

"It's mandated by the state," Kim said, clapping her friend on the shoulder. "Come on."

They went upstairs and Kim took Shego into the familiar guest room. She found some clean blankets and gave them to her friend.

"Shego, we'll fix everything," she said. "I promise. We'll save Mego, switch you back, recover both of you guys' powers, spare me, _and_ manage to keep the Wegos and Hego out of the loop. Then we'll put Drakken in prison and you _won't_ spring him this time, are we clear on the non-springing of the mad scientist?"

"Ay-ay, cap'n," Shego replied. _I never want to see that cruel nutcase again!_ She put her hands in her pockets. "Thanks for everything. You really are the best, K.P."

"No big," Kim said. "Oh, if my dad doesn't shoot you by morning I'll start going to church again, but I snagged you some of his pajamas."

"Thanks," Shego said. She looked away.

"Did I say something awry?" Kim asked.

"No, princess, you didn't," Shego said, and she sniffled.

"Shego, are you _crying_?"

"No."

"Oh––yes you are, it's okay, you know," Kim said, putting a hand on the quivering shoulder of the sallow-skinned youth beside her.

Shego decided it would be futile to hide her tears. "I just don't know what I'm gonna do! The life I had is over. If I can't turn this around, I'll have to go through college and everything all over again. I'm gonna have to be somebody else for the rest of my life. I'm so ashamed of my body."

"So not," Kim replied, and Shego smiled to hear the juvenile slang. "You still feel like Shego, don't you?"

"Well, yeah, but a new Shego who deserves to die a thousand heinous and untimely de––"

"And I know you're Shego, and so does my family. I was supposed to call them. They must be worried sick!"

"I think you left the Kimmunicator downstairs," Shego said.

"I'll be right back," Kim said. "Look, Shego, don't freak out just yet, okay? And try to get up the guts to pee. I don't want you to make yourself sick."

"Can do. I think."

Kim found the Kimmunicator and opened a three-way session with Ron and Wade. "Sorry I forgot to get back to you, guys, it's just that––well, I've had an eventful day, I guess."

"What's wrong, K.P.? You look upset," Ron said. Kim looked at Shego, and she could tell her new friend didn't really want the boys to know about her predicament.

"It's…it's nothing," Kim said as a really lame white lie.

"You know I know you better than that, K.P."

"F-family stuff."

"Oh, give me that," Shego said, taking the Kimmunicator.

"Whoa," said Wade, "is that Shego in drag?"

"Close enough, fellas," Shego said miserably. "Drakken hit me with a sex-change ray. He imprisoned my brother Mego and he'll only make everything right again if I kill Kim. Since I'm not going to kill her, she's letting me stay at her house, but I just upset everyone by having an erection at the dinner table. So she didn't lie to you."

"Okay, this is weird," Ron said.

"It looks like we've got ourselves a sex-change ray to steal," Wade said.

"No," Shego said. "He destroyed it."

"Alright. Give me till tomorrow morning then to figure something out. We'll have to stage Kim's death.

"Doy."


	3. The Truth Hurts

Kim was awoken the next morning by the beeping of her Kimmunicator. "Wade," she mumbled. "Oy, Wade, couldn't it wait fifteen minutes till my official wake-up time? I need those fifteen minutes!"

"I'd wait but I don't really think Shego would make you wait––now that she's a good guy, at least."

"Oh, if it's about Shego, let me go wake her up so she can be in on this."

"Right."

Kim got out of bed and wrapped her bathrobe around herself, and went into the guest bedroom. The bed was fixed and the room was impeccably neat. There was no one there, and it looked like no one had lived there for months.

It was just then that the fragrance of French toast drifted its way to her attention. Kim followed her nose downstairs, where she found Shego and the Tweebs, making breakfast.

"Hey, Kimmie, you look tired," Shego said cheerily.

"Yeah––I'm not scheduled to wake up for another fifteen minutes, but Wade called, and I thought it would be better if he talked to both of us."

"Oh," Shego said; her smile faded and the light dimmed out of the perfect green eyes as she remembered her body. "Boys, why don't you finish up in here without me?"

The Tweebs exchanged evil grins.

"Be neat about it," Kim barked at them. She and Shego went into the living room and sat down on the sofa close together so they could both see Wade on the monitor.

"Hi Shego," Wade said, his expression full of amiable pity.

"Hey nerdlinger," Shego replied.

"Okay well I'm glad to see you've moved on from the groveling stage back to dictatorship," Wade shot back. Shego rolled her eyes and crossed her arms and legs, then uncrossed her legs, the ghost of a greenish blush coming over her complexion.

"Guys, play nice or you can't play at all," Kim said. She grinned. She knew she was rubbing wine into an ancient cut when she said it, but she went on: "Shego, apologize to Wade."

"What––I––"

"Do it or I'm hanging up and he doesn't have to help you."

"Like he's got anything better to do," Shego muttered under her breath.

"Care to repeat that?" Kim asked sharply.

"I'm sorry, Wade," Shego said, a strange expression coming over her. Something resembling pain. It was bizarre. "Really, I am."

"Wade, you're up," Kim said.

"I…I suppose I forgive you," Wade said.

"That's not what I meant," Kim said, shooting a dangerous look into the window of the Kimmunicator. Wade blanched.

"Oh…Shego, I'm sorry for what I said too. It was pretty awful, especially after the day you had yesterday. I hope you can forgive me long enough to let me help, 'cause I know I can somehow."

Shego gave a hiccough. Kim put her tiny hand under Shego's big male one and gave it a squeeze. Shego hid her eyes in her other hand and Kim put her whole arm around her friend.

"Kim?" Wade asked, terrified.

"It's not you, Wade," Shego managed to choke through her sobs. "I'm just scared."

"And I will help you…if you let me," Wade told her. "Am I still on the team?"

Shego smiled, the once delicate features shining with tears. "If you'll have me, I'd be the luckiest girl––guy––whatever the hell I'm supposed to be––in the world."

"That's better," Kim said. "Wade, what did you find?"

"Well––Shego, first, I wanted to ask you if you've thought about just going trans."

"I have to save my brother, and if I can avoid going through transition I will. I don't know if I have the emotional endurance left for that. Honestly, I'm surprised my heart kept beating this far. Wade, I don't think I _could_ do it. Why are you asking me this? You think there's no hope?"

"Shego, I've gotta be honest with you. Drakken ordered his henchmen to steal the machine without your knowledge. They killed its creator to silence him, and I'm not finding records of plans or anything. And I don't know how to make one of these things. I don't even know where to begin. That machine sucked out your female chromosomal coding. I did a scan while you were sleeping––"

"Say what––"

"––and there's not a female cell in your body. Look, Drakken screwed you over. I don't know what comes next, and I'll keep looking, but I'm running out of hope and I'm sorry, Shego."

"Thanks man."

"Later, Wade," Kim said. She and Shego sat in silence for a moment. "Shego, this is all my fault––"

"Look, Kimmie, I made my decision. Wade's right. Even if I handed you over, Drakken wouldn't be able to turn me back. Like he'd put me out of my misery anyway."

"Shego, we're surrounded by geniuses. And if the laser was made before, we know there's a way to make one. I'll get you that chromosome back if it's the last thing I do."

"Which it just might be, which is why I have to put my foot down on this one. Let's get ready for school, princess."

"I didn't notice you were in like all my classes, Shego," Kim said at lunch.

"I was sitting in the back, you usually sit in the front…I wasn't sure how to tell you about what happened to me."

"Can I ask you a question?" the redhead asked. The dramatic tone of Kim's diction scared Shego a little bit and it must've been manifest on her face because her little heroine added, "You can tell me if I'm prying, of course."

"Shoot," Shego told the teenager. "I'll really try to answer, whatever it is." She was waiting for an accusation or even for a resignation from the vendetta against Drakken…or maybe, knowing Kimmie, the question would involve "boy thoughts." Though she felt scared of the inquiry she also knew that she owed Kim some answers.

"You didn't respect Drakken."

"That's not a question, princess."

"Why'd you work for him for so many years?"

"It was a good deal––I mean, up until the part where I'm sprouting boy parts––but I had a free place to live, I never had to pay rent or buy food, and it paid pretty good on top of that––I mean, at the end of the day, I was a slave to the guy, but it worked for a long time. I guess. I don't know."

"I do. Can I tell you what I think?"

"Make my day."

"I think you don't really have any interest in evil––whether you ever did or not doesn't really matter, because I think that most of the time you _were_ evil you wished you weren't, and then you'd go around doing good deeds that nobody else caught till retrospect caught up with them. And I think asking me to help you yesterday was your turning point. Not to toot my own horn or anything, but since we're so much a like––"

"Okay, you've tooted too far––"

"Haha. I think that since we've got so much in common, and I'm on the good side and you're on the bad side, you needed me to help you. I think you needed to be accepted by your own counterpart because you never valued yourself quite as much as you pretend to. Oh, God, sorry––I can't believe I said all that."

"I must've got you punch drunk over the years. No worries. But geez, I feel really––naked. You're good, Kimmie."

The bell rang and they got up to go to their next class. Shego accidentally ran into Mr. Barkin in the hallway.

"Watch where you're going, _punk_!" he yelled, shoving her back into the lockers.

"Shego!" Kim exclaimed. "Are you okay?"

"I _really_ miss my powers."


	4. The Dance

After school on Friday, Ron and Kim went right to Bueno Nacho like they always did. Shego went out to find something to wear to the dance the following evening. Ron watched morosely as his naked mole rat dove through the Nacos and Chimiritos with draconic enthusiasm.

"Ron, what's the trouble?" Kim asked. Ron sighed.

"Kim…I've been thinking, and I think that you're going through something sort of difficult. It's okay. I just want you to be happy, and I hope we'll always be best friends. I hope you know how true what I just said is."

"Okay…" Kim said, not following him. "I'm confused."

"Kim, I figured you might not see it. And you might be upset that I'm mentioning it, whether you know it yet or not, but you're crushing on Shego."

"Say what?"

"Kim, this guy lives in your house, he's mature, smart, handsome, post-puberty, thinks like a girl…I mean, come on, even I know he's a catch for you. And I think you might feel guilty that we've been going out, and also because you're not sure how Shego will respond if he finds out. So I'm going to make this as easy for you as I can: I think it would be best if we were just friends again."

"But really friends?"

"Kim, you're my best friend. Sometimes, you're my only friend. You think I'd ignore you just because of a boy?"

"I love you, Ron."

Saturday was the night of the dance. Shego was grateful to Kim's mother for her heroic assistance with everything from cufflinks to nerves, but there was one thing she had no way to brace herself for: her date.

Kim walked down the stairs wearing a shimmering lavender gown and a huge smile.

"Shego, are you okay?" she asked. Shego was standing there, clutching a kitchen chair for support and suddenly feeling enraged at Drakken for doing this to her. _She _could easily be that beautiful too––if she wasn't a boy.

"You look beautiful, princess," she managed to choke out.

"Thanks," Kim said. "So do you." Shego looked down at her tuxedo and shook her head.

"Bad news, Kim," Anne Possible said, coming back into the kitchen. "The boys had an accident…involving your car."

"Aw, TWEEBS!" Kim roared, but Shego interrupted gracefully.

"Pumpkin, it's okay, I got us a car. I thought maybe you'd rather a different set of wheels for the evening––and a break from driving duty, so I hired a limo."

"Say what?"

"It's still no excuse to get shitfaced at some afterprom or whatever but…you can consider yourself one-up on Rockwaller, kay?"

"Bad news, Mom," Kim said with a smile, "the old, vengeful Shego is back."

Shego laughed and looked at the Rolex watch on her wrist. "Should be here any minute, Kimmie."

"Right," Kim said. It was impossible for her to admit it without hurting Shego's feelings, but this situation was starting to make Kim uncomfortable in ways she couldn't describe. Poor Shego. She would never understand the levels of agonizing confusion inflicted on Kim by the Shego-induced factor that both compelled Kim to stare helplessly at the Apollo who was her date, but these thoughts revolted her.

"Are you okay, Kim?" Shego asked. Her mind seemed to penetrate the younger girl right to the heart of the problem, but she played dumb (for everyone's sake). "We don't have to go through with this, you know. What's the matter?"

"I don't know how to––tell you," Kim said, finding the greatest difficulty formulating a sentence ever out of her whole life.

"Is it something I did?" Shego asked. Kim shook her head.

"No, Shego," Kim replied. "You've been wonderful. More than wonderful. It's me, I'm bugged. I'm sorry."

"I can call off the car if you want," Shego said, "or we could go somewhere else instead."

"Shego, honey, do you think I could borrow my daughter in the pantry?" Anne asked. Shego looked down at Kim and put her hand on the younger girl's arm. She smiled.

"Go help her. I'll wait here. Holler if you need anything."

"If my dad gets here, just come to the pantry."

"No shit."

Kim followed her mother and Shego, feeling very confused and a little left out, watched her go. Kim looked too beautiful to be so upset, and Shego had to blame herself. She was aware at this point that Kim liked her and it made her feel horribly guilty. Kim must feel like a total freak and it was all Shego's fault.

Just then Mr. Possible walked into the house.

"Hello there, son," he said genially, because he knew Shego would hate that. "So you're taking my daughter to the school dance, are you?"

"I'm not sure yet," Shego replied carefully.

"I guess I'm finally starting to make an impression on you. My wife might think you're totally harmless but I see right through you, bud. One wrong move…"

"Hey, I think my laundry is done. Gotta go," Shego said and made a beeline for the haven of the laundry room. But she couldn't bring herself to go in.

"Mom, I think the problem is that I feel guilty for what happened to Shego," Kim's voice said. She sounded like she was crying. Shego felt her heart melt for the girl who had helped her so much and who had asked for so little in return.

"You didn't fire a sex-change ray at her, did you?" Mrs. Possible questioned.

"No––Mom, promise you won't tell?"

"Kimmie-cub, who would I tell?"

"I think I like Shego this way. Yes. _That_ way."

"Oh," Mrs. Dr. Possible's voice said, shocked. "Oh, oh dear. Can you try and contain it?"

"There's no need," Shego said, stepping into the pantry. She held out her arms and caught Kim in a comforting hug. "Princess, you could've told me. It's okay."

"I'm really sorry, Shego," Kim sobbed.

Shego had somehow never exactly foreseen herself in a tuxedo in the Possibles' pantry holding up an incoherently distraught Kimmie, but weirder things happen, right?

"Can I tell you something?" Shego asked.

"Anything," Kim sobbed.

"Did you ever wonder why I've always been so keen to save you, or why I never held down a boyfriend for long?"

"I just assumed I was better than you––"

Shego smiled and put a finger on Kim's joking lips to silence her.

"I know, I know, I know, kid. But there was something I never had the guts to say––until now, that is."

"What?"

"Well, I'm older than you, old enough to have been a high school teacher to you; and I've always been your enemy as long as we've known each other. I had to love you from a distance. So, I guess that if my new body helps me get what I've wanted so long, then you've helped me, not hurt. I guess what I'm trying to say is…I love you."

"Wow," Kim said.

"Honey, it's not like Shego could get Kim pregnant––"

"No, I think I could now," Shego admitted. "But I just want to be with her––maybe dance a little, and maybe we'll kiss…" Her sentence ended in an appreciative laugh from everyone in the room who was (or had ever been) female. "So, Kimmie, will you be my date to this ridiculous high school dance or what?"

"I guess if it's between that and forcing you to grovel at Bonnie's feet." Kim said, in a voice dripping with pretend concern over a hard decision.

"That's what I'm talking about."

In the limo, Kim asked Shego a question the latter wasn't sure how to answer.

"Did you love me romantically when you were a girl?"

"I'm a lesbian," Shego replied.

"Um…are you my boyfriend?"

"I suppose, as long as I'm a boy," Shego replied, "and as long as Bonnie's a bitch."

The gym was decorated for the dance––when Kim and Shego walked in arm-in-arm, everyone inside stopped to stare and gawk. Bonnie looked furious.

"Kim, who's your date?" someone asked.

"Oh, hi Monique," Kim said, torn between the fact that she was happy to see her friend and the urge to protect Shego from humiliation. "This is––Sean."

"I feel like I've seen you before," Monique said slowly.

"Maybe…around somewhere," Shego said vaguely.

"Well, no matter," Monique said happily. "You guys are the hottest couple here! Bonnie is sick with jealousy!"

Shego smiled to see the smile on Kim's face. It was nice to know she had put it there. When Monique left to go mingle elsewhere, Shego turned to Kim.

"She's your closest friend here. You can tell her about me, if you want to."

Kim pecked Shego on the cheek, sending all sorts of chills and emotions down the latter's spine. "Really?"

"I trust you."

"Maybe I'll tell her tomorrow. I think it might be less lonely for you if a few other people understand."

"I'm not lonely," Shego said.

"Really?"

"Of course not. I have you, don't I?"

Kim kissed Shego's cheek again. "You can do so much better."

Shego laughed. "Doubt it."

"Dance with me?" Kim asked.

"You got it."

"I love this song," Kim confessed.

"What's this group again?"

"Huh…oh. Coldplay."

Shego listened to the words of the very slow song. They were very beautiful.

"What––what's the name of this one?"

"'Fix You,'" Kim answered. "This is _our_ song, okay?"

"Absolutely," Shego said. "Whatever you say, princess."

It was a funny thing, Shego thought, as the pair of them slowly revolved in easy circles, that the rival she abhorred and opposed for so long was now the only thing that held her to this life. Kimmie had completely become Shego's reason to continue living. There was nothing else––apart from a fleeting responsibility to Mego, because saving him would be simple––that could keep her from taking her own life. Kimmie had saved her. Kimmie _had_ fixed her.

"Can I say something?" Shego asked. She'd said it before, but now seemed like the time to officiate it.

"What?" Kim asked gently, looking up into Shego's face with wide green eyes. Shego smiled.

"I'm finished with being the bad guy. Forever."

"I know," Kim said.

"No, Kimmie, listen––I hurt you, and I didn't have to. I hurt my brothers. I endangered the world. Now I'm done. I'm sorry. You have my word. And…when everything is resolved, I'm going back to my brothers, but…Kimmie, do you think there's a place for me where I can help people?"

"Well, I suppose that you're a philanthropist when it comes to energy blasts," Kim said. "Listen, we'll get you hooked up to teach somewhere around here so you have an income but you'd be invaluable on missions as a good guy."

"Kimmie, Ron's over there. I think you should dance with him on the next song."

"Really?"

"He's your best friend."

When "Fix You" ended, Kim approached Ron and asked him, "May I have this dance?"

Ron smiled. "Of course."

While they were dancing, Kim saw Bonnie ask Shego to dance with her, but Shego gracefully pushed past her to sweep Monique off her feet. Bonnie stormed off in a teary huff. When _that_ song ended, Monique dragged Kim, Ron, and Shego to a table.

"She told me," Monique said to Kim. Kim looked up at Shego, who gave her the thumbs-up. "I just wanted you guys to know that I'll help however I can––just say the word."

"You're the best, Monique," Kim said. "Tomorrow afternoon, my place? We could start working on a plan."

"You got it, girl."


	5. It's Not What It Looks Like

**This chapter gets violent. Read at your own discretion.**

When Kim awoke on Sunday morning, there was nobody home. Her mom, dad, and brothers had gone to visit Nana but Kim had decided to stay home and get cracking on the situation at hand with Ron, Monique, Shego, and Wade. But there was no one home. Shego was nowhere to be found.

"Shego?" Kim called for nearly fifteen minutes before she gave up. That was when she found a note:

_Kimmie,_

_I've gone back to Drakken. I have to get Mego. I don't think it can wait. We'll worry about switching me back later. Please, do NOT come after me. I'm fine. Trust me, I know what I'm doing. Thank you for everything. See you really soon, and not while I'm being slammed into the back of a police car._

_All the best._

_Love,_

_Shego_

Needless to say, she had the Kimmunicator out faster than thinking. "What's the sitch, Kim?" Wade yawned.

"Look––Shego's gone. We were going to start planning today, remember?"

"Oh, right––uh––how could I forget?" Wade chuckled nervously. Kim didn't notice.

"Wade, there's a really funny note and it's signed Shego, but how do we know it was her?"

"Scan it," Wade said, giving another obnoxious yawn. While he calculated DNA and handwriting, Kim read the note over and over again until tears came. For the first time in a long time, she was frightened. There was something wrong this time. Normally, Shego could handle Drakken, but not now. Had Drakken captured her? Would he hurt her? Would Kim ever see Shego again?

"She definitely wrote this, Kim," said Wade. "And I almost feel like you should do what she told you to. Maybe she's going to let Drakken think you're dead. She could have decoys."

"Like synthodrones?"

"Well…something to that effect. Oh, Kim, don't cry. I'm sure it'll be––"

"Ron and Monique. Are they okay?"

Wade did some nerdy computer thing before affirming that they were fine.

"Shego's the only one. I think she went willingly. Ron is actually out of town with his parents and Monique is still sleeping."

"I'm going to Drakken's lair," Kim announced. "Tell Ron and Monique not to worry."

"Okay––"

Kim flew back upstairs, threw on her supersuit, and jumped into her car, turning the corner to her street in record time.

Shego stepped into the dark lair––it seemed that no one was awake yet. In the center of the room was a dais, and on the dais was a jar. Inside the jar was a tiny purple man who looked like he hadn't eaten in a week.

"Mego!" Shego exclaimed, and she ran to him. He looked extremely disoriented.

"Sis, is that you?"

"Yeah, but it's a long story," Shego replied, tucking the jar under her arm like a football. "Let's just get you out––"

"I knew you'd crack," came a diabolical voice. The lights turned on.

"Dr. D––" Shego stammered.

"What's in that suitcase?" Drakken asked. He approached her as if he knew that she could not defeat him today.

"Kimmie." The word felt cold here.

"_I'll_ take this," the mad scientist said, snatching Mego's jar away. Then there were––she hardly dared to believe it––footsteps.

"Kimmie," she whispered before she could stop herself.

"Kimmie?" Drakken repeated. "I thought _Kimmie_ was the luggage."

He pulled a lever and there was a scream from outside the lair. Someone was forced in on a conveyor belt. Kim Possible had arrived.

The supersuit glowed as the teen hero burst free of her restraints. As she began to untie her blindfold, Drakken pressed a button on a pocket laser and the supersuit was tattered in shreds beyond repair. He forced the laser into Shego's hand. Kim opened her eyes.

"_Shego_!" she cried, looking from her naked body to Shego's disbelieving expression. "I trusted you!"

"I swear, it's not what it looks like!" Shego cried. "I would never––"

"Then what's with the laser?"

"Drakken put it in my hand! Kimmie, you _know_ I would never––especially the one thing that was our hope of winning at this––"

"I don't know _what _to believe anymore. But do me a favor and pick a side."

Drakken cackled. "Shego, did you ever let _Kimmie_ read your diary?"

"Oh, you wouldn't––"

"'April fourteenth––Dear Diary: when I fought Kim today I thought it would be impossible not to put the moves on her––I really like her and that makes it hard to fight. It kind of grosses me out to contemplate the things I'd like to do––'"

Kim punched Shego as hard as she could in the jaw. It left a mark. Shego roared in agony as her head shot back.

"'September twenty-two––I came so close to raping Kimmie today––here's my plan––'"

Kim didn't need to hear the plan. She knew how evil her next act was, but she was too consumed with her anger. She kicked Shego as hard as she could in a horrible place. Shego screamed and crumbled to the ground. She didn't move. Her jaw opened. A dark red stain spread out on the floor from her mouth.

"Yes, Shego," Drakken chided evilly. "Pick a side."

"Drakken, you bonster, I'm 'ere to saveby brother and dake our bowers abay vrom you, and you know it! I wasn't even dinking that _baybe_ you'd lose and haff to turn me into a girl again, as per the prior agreement. And I _won_'t gill Gimmie." She began to choke pathetically on the blood.

"You can stop acting now, Shego," Drakken said with a laugh. He pressed another button and Kim was bound to the wall by her ankles and wrists. Then he cackled, and his hands glowed green with verdant energy––

When the first blast of energy hit Kim, no one was ready for it. The blasts were too big, too close, too concentrated. Kim's head fell forward to let Shego know she had passed out. Shego tried to knock Drakken off his target but he blasted her a hundred feet behind him and she hit the back wall with a bone-shattering crash. Weak without her powers she crawled in front of Kim and slowly rose to her feet, weilding the largest possible fragment of cybertronic fabric from Kim's supersuit like a shield. When Drakken shot energy at Kim this time, it was the fabric that took the hit and deflected it back at its source, though Shego felt like she'd been hit very hard all over her body all at once. She saw Drakken collapse and she too gave up the ghost.

"Shego, Shego…" Kim's voice. It was gentle, but afraid.

"Gimmie? Dat voo?" She was back in her own bed in Drakken's lair, Kim wrapped up in a blanket, sitting at Shego's bedside and holding ice all over Shego's face.

"I'm so sorry I hurt you," Kim said quietly. She looked like she was trying not to cry.

"I dittn't 'aser you, vor da record," Shego said, "and I wote dose tings about you when I was evil dough. Forgive be?"

"Of course. I shouldn't have broken your jaw, Shego. I'm so sorry."

"Vorget it," Shego dismissed the apology. She felt lucky just to be here with Kim.

"And then I kicked you––in the––And then you saved me. After everything."

"Of gourse I did. I love you, Gim."

"I should be damned," Kim said. "I should be flayed, stoned, drowned, burned, disemboweled––I––what I did was _evil_––I could've taken your life––and you let me––"

"'Ow could I ever hurt you anybore? I love you."

"And I'm _supposed_ to love you. What I did was unforgivable."

"Nussing you could ever do is unforgizable. Not to be."

"I'll never be able to make it up to you. This was horrible––"

"Kiss be."

"Aww, that's so nice. Together and reconciled and oh, so in love at last! Shego, Kim, you've walked right into my next experiment."


	6. The Experiment

**I keep forgetting to say, but thanks a million for all the faves, story alerts, and positive comments guys! :) Sorry I keep forgetting my manners. ~Carly**

***

"Experiment?" Kim repeated. At that moment three more people came into Shego's bedroom, making it seem a lot smaller. "Ron!" Kim exclaimed. "Wade! Monique! What are you doing here?"

"We came to help," Wade said. "I just figured out the part two to this and we really think you guys oughta clear out before––"

"Before _what_, nerd boy?" Drakken spat.

"Kim, we've got to get you out of here. Pronto!" Ron exclaimed. He looked pale. What was the most shocking thing, though, was Monique's hand in his.

"Wait, you guys are––"

"Well, _you _guys are––"

"I guess it was just a matter of time…" Kim said.

"Focus!" Shego urged.

"So what's the deal, Drakken?" Kim asked. "Is this another trap?"

Drakken leered. "Shego, do you remember how when I zapped you with the sex-change laser, you lost consciousness?"

"What did you do to me?" Shego hissed, and she bolted upright. Kim pressed the ice pack back on Shego's purpled jaw.

"K.P., Drakken's stolen some of Shego's sperm and he wants you to be the surrogate mother," Ron said loudly. Then there was a silence.

"We came as soon as we'd figured it out," Wade said.

"_That's _why we're in this mess?" Kim spat, hatred coursing through her more than blood. "So Shego can father a _child_? You did this to create––"

"The ultimate fighter!" Drakken exclaimed. "I will raise the child to relish in evil and I shall call him my son! …or daughter! Mwahaha!"

Drakken whistled and suddenly henchmen came into the room, seizing Ron, Wade, and Monique, and dragging them away easily. Shego seized Kim by the wrist.

"Get _out_ of here," she implored. "I'll be vine. Just go."

"Shego, you will _not_ be fine," Drakken said. "If Kim doesn't stay, she will _never_ see her friends again."

"If I let you do this, you'll let my friends walk free? Even Shego?"

"If you do this, I will give up crime until the child comes of age, and I will zap Shego back immediately."

"No," Shego said. "Don't listen to him, Gimmie. I will vight. Go find your vriends."

"As _if_!" Drakken guffawed. "Very well. Stand up, Shego."

Shego tried to stand but fell, clutching the bed for support even as she perched, broken, on her knees. There were just far too many tears to blink away.

"If I do this, I want Shego and Mego's powers," Kim said, helping Shego back into bed. Drakken winced.

"You lippy Possibles drive a hard bargain," he said. "Fine. Let's go. And oh, Shego, did you tell Kim our little secret?"

"No," Shego said. "I beg you not to tell her. And Kimmie, you _know_ better than to do this."

"No, I don't. But I love you, Shego…"

***

Kim followed Drakken into a large room. Inside there was a team of doctors tied to chairs. One of the doctors was a gynecologist who was friends with––

"Mom?" Kim asked.

"Oh, Kimmie!" Dr. Possible cried out. "When he told us his plan, I _knew_ it would be you. I just _knew _it. Oh, I can't do this…not my daughter, not my eighteen-year-old baby girl…"

"Mom, you have to," Kim whispered. "For me. Otherwise, some stranger will."

Dr. Possible looked up into her daughter's face, trying to make sense of the stony expression she found imprinted there. "You're sure?"

"Yeah. There's no other option. Say no and he'll blow the place up with everyone inside it. Ron, Wade, and Monique are probably tied up somewhere and Shego can hardly move because––Mom, I've done a terrible thing!"

"We saw what you did," Dr. Possible said. She gestured behind Kim and Kim turned to see three gigantic TV screens. "It was horrible, but everybody understands––"

"Except Shego. She trusted me, but I guess I didn't trust her as much as I thought I did. She just let me beat her up."

Dr. Possible had Kim change into one of those blue gowns they make you wear when you go to the gyno and then they gave her drugs. The last thing Kim remembered was mentioning, "You should offer some of this stuff to Shego…it's goooooood."

***

_You know what I really hate? …You._ Shego couldn't shake these words from her head since Kimmie had spoken them, and blasted her into the tower. Yet she took every wrong her princess committed as her own fault. Did Kimmie really hate her? No matter––there was only one way to rule that out––she must beat Drakken. And with that new fire in her heart, she managed to rise.

***

When Kim opened her eyes, there were seven faces swimming above her––Mom, Mom's gyno friend, Wade, Ron, Monique, Shego, and a full-size Mego. Shego looked well again, and she smiled as she stroked her princess' hair.

"Shego?" Kim asked groggily. "You're okay? You're okay! But how?"

"I may not be what I used to be but I had enough mojo left to jump Drakken for my powers––and Mego's. The superpowers allow me to heal faster."

"Like, superfast," Mego contributed.

"No harm done, princess."

"Maybe not on the outside," Kim muttered darkly. "So…am I pregnant?" She tried to sound as light and casual as she could but it was hard to. She was scared.

"You have to test in two weeks, honey," Dr. Possible said. "And I have to find a way to break it to your father…let's wait till we know for sure."

"Right." Kim turned her gaze upon the sallow-skinned boy smiling down on her.

"You okay, princess?"

"Shego, I'm so sorry," Kim said, her eyes filling with tears as she seized the neck of her boyfriend's jumpsuit to keep him with her.

"There's nothing to be sorry for. I'm fine, and I understand. I spent a few too many years hurting you for you to trust me completely. Add a realistic setup and I'm screwed. It's me who should be sorry. One day I hope I can earn your trust, princess. Let's get you home."

"What about Drakken?"

"What about him? I've blasted him into the next frontier. Let's blow this popsicle stand while we've got the chance, huh, pumpkin?"

"Come on, Kimmie, let's get you home. You look very pale," said her mother.

***

"I think it happened."

"You think what happened?"

"I think I'm pregnant," Kim said. "I just feel different. Not wrong, just different."

"Well…if––you know––if this is really happening and it's not a really fucked up dream, I mean––"

"It's not––"

"Kay. Well––it's my baby too. I'm just as responsible for it as you are. When you go to college, I'll take care of it full time. We can even live together if you want."

"Really?"

"If you want," Shego repeated carefully. "It's just something to think about. I want to make this as painless for you as I can."

"It's not painful as long as you're here, Shego," Kim replied. "Gosh, I never thought I'd say that."

Shego smiled. "Yeah…it's weird, isn't it?" She looked thoughtful and sad.

"I never apologized for what I said during the whole diablo adventure," Kim said in a low voice. "Shego––that's for me to live with. I don't hate you. I love you more than anything else in the world. I can't live without you. But I still said that horrible thing, and again, I could have killed you, and again, you would've let me. And all these years, I thought _you_ were the evil one between us, and because of that I guess I decided that it was okay to hurt you. Even though you're so fast to forgive me, I'll never forgive myself, and I don't deserve you. You don't have to stay." She said the last words looking tearfully downward. Shego's fingers found the redhead's chin and eased it upward. Kim looked at her with unsureness in her watery eyes, and that was enough to flood her own. She clamped her electric green eyes shut and kissed Kim.

For a moment Kim kissed Shego back, but then she pushed her love away.

"There's something you're not telling me," the teenager said quietly. Shego sighed.

"What do you mean?"

"Drakken said something about a secret."

"…oh. Right. That. That's just between me and him."

"You can tell me. Please?"

"Kimmie, it's not worth knowing."

"Then it's not worth hiding. I'll find out anyway."

"Well…" Shego said, unsure how to tell the truth. "I guess you're right. It's like this." She heaved a sigh. Kimmie shouldn't have to know this. "Dr. D gave me a choice. It could be either you or me who got turned into a boy. He really didn't care, so I took the bullet."

"Say what?"

"I could've had him switch you instead, but you didn't deserve this. I got what was coming to me for becoming so immersed in villainy. Why should _you_ have to pay for my mistakes again, princess? Anyway, I've always protected you, and––whether you knew it or not, I've always loved you. And…as much as I hate my body now I'm finding it hard to complain…because now I get to be with you. That's all I ever wanted. When I was a girl, I was completely homosexual. I wanted you more than anything. I wanted you to love me the way I loved you, but you couldn't, and that made me angry and fueled my evil. Now you do. And now the thing that all my instincts have been pointing to for years is here––a child that's half you and half me."

"Why are you so positive?" Kim asked warily. "I'm not used to seeing this side of you."

"Oh that's easy," Shego replied happily. "I got what I wanted."

"Shego," Kim tried to find the words, "would you even _want_ to go back to being a girl now that we're here?"

"It depends," Shego said, her voice dripping deliberate vagueness. "Does the hero get the girl at the end?"

Kim frowned. "I do right now, don't I?"

"Until you throw me out, princess."


	7. Shego's Story

**It's short but really intense. That's my warning.**

"EeeeeeeeeeeeahhhhhhHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

With a burst of adrenaline like a heart attack, Shego bolted awake. Lights were being turned on all over the house and groggy footsteps raced upstairs.

"Kimmie, what is it?" called the mother.

"Nobody move!" Kim's father shouted. Shego, however, traced the sound to the bathroom that was across the hall from her room, and nervously rapped on the door.

"Kimmie, whasamatter?" she yawned. The lock on the door clicked open and with a _squeeeeeeeeeeak_, Kimmie's terrorized face appeared.

"It really happened," Kim sighed, grabbing Shego's wrist and dragging her to the sink.

"It was bound to, darling."

"Oh––Kimmie? Shego? What's going on in here?" Mrs. Dr. Possible questioned, rubbing her eyes.

"I think this is a matter for the women of the house," Shego said in a reasonable voice as she went to distract the Mister Doctor.

Mrs. Dr. Possible's gaze warily followed her daughter's to the sink. Then she hugged Kim as hard as she could.

"This is all my fault, I shouldn't have done the procedure––"

"Mom, if you said no, everyone could have been killed. Anyway, Shego says she'll raise the baby if I can't."

"This is just not how I expected it to happen, honey," Kim's mom said wretchedly.

"I know, Mom, but I'm not scared. I can do anything, remember?" She tried to force a heartening smile onto her face and that was when she realized through firsthand experience that she couldn't do _positively_ anything.

In the morning, the house was oddly quiet. Kim lay awake in bed for hours, unmoving. She was terrified. Even if her life wasn't over, and it was hard to tell at this point, it had been knocked heinously off course forever.

Two voices came to her attention and she realized she'd been hearing them for a very long time. They came from Shego's room. One was Shego's velvety new man voice and the other was her mom. From the sound of it, Mrs. Dr. Possible was trying to talk Shego into a favor.

"Dr. Possible, I––I don't want to make this harder than it is," Shego said. "If Kim even wants to see me ever again, I doubt that's what she'd want me to say to her. I can't. I'm sorry."

"Shego, it might be the best thing for her _and_ the child," Mom implored. "My daughter knows you love her. I know she loves you. And Shego?"

"Yes, Dr. Possible?"

"I saw how much my daughter hurt you––I know, physically, you're well again, but she couldn't bring herself to trust you, and she wound up dehumanizing you in the most outrageous ways she could devise. I know you two share a––a rather _unsavory_ history but I always wondered about you. You were never truly evil, were you?"

A funny sound got caught in Shego's throat. "I tried to be."

"Why?"

"Being good didn't work out for me," came the simple reply.

"How do you mean, honey?"

"I have two older brothers and two younger brothers. We all have superpowers because we were struck by a magical comet when we were kids. We were worldwide do-gooders just like your daughter. We helped people. We saved people."

"What went wrong?"

"Well my dad was unstable all my life. He––he hurt my mother." The narration came to an abrupt halt. Shego spoke like a child.

"Hurt how, Shego?" Dr. Possible gently pried for the truth. Shego's cool broke.

"He beat her. He would rape her in front of us kids. I was nine when my oldest brother went off to college, but my middle brother protected the little boys and I. He went away when I was fifteen. When I turned into a woman––a woman who looked just like my mother."

"Oh my God. Shego!"

"So you know where this is going? He said I was nothing––he said if I gave up the hero thing to service him he wouldn't hurt my mom anymore. But I couldn't tell anyone. My mom got sick when I was seventeen––cervical cancer. She died before I got out of high school. I took care of her till the day she died. Only me. I lost all my friends, I got kicked around by a few boys because I thought it gave me some sort of worth. It didn't. I never had a boyfriend again. Hego––my oldest brother––yeah we all have these great classy names, right?––he was out of college so I figured he could take care of the boys. I murdered my dad and nobody thought of me the same ever since. I became a bigtime felon, wanted in eleven countries and counting. Dr. Possible, I had to get an abortion. It was my son but it was also my brother. I can't bear to ask Kim to do what I still can't live with. I hope you understand. I'll give it a try but I can't promise more than that."

"Shego, wait––"

Lying in her bed, Kim didn't notice the tears that ran down her face, saturating all the distance from her cheekbones to the neck of her nightshirt.

There was a gentle knock on her open door. "Kimmie, can I talk to you?"

Shego was standing in the doorway, her knuckles still pressed against the wood. Kim jumped up and had her arms around Shego's neck faster than blinking.

"Look––you don't have to relive it. I heard you." Kim buried her teary face in Shego's chest. "I'm so sorry," she sobbed. "You should go. You shouldn't waste your time on me."

"Kimmie, I love you."

"I know and I don't deserve it! Gah!!"

"Your mother wanted me to talk to you about…about an idea she had."

"I don't want an abortion," Kim said. "I checked it out on the web last night. Ican't go through with it."

"Kimmie, your mom's right––"

"I can't kill it, Shego. I think I love it."

"Kimmie, why? Your mom thinks it's the best thing for the child and if anyone would know these things she would––"

"Shego, did you see those tools?"

"Yes, but it'll only hurt for a second––Kimmie, we've got to protect it from the mad science that spawned it, and the mad science that'll be tailing it all its life. We don't have a choice. What if it comes out with eyeballs where its nipples should be?"

This earned a smile through the redhead's relentless sobs. Then it faded.

"Shego, I––I just can't. It's a part of me, just like it's a part of you. I heard you. You don't want to kill it––you aborted yours for all the right reasons and it's taken over your life––"

"I'm actually more worried about _you_ right now than I am about me or the kid."

"Shego, I know that things will be fine––you don't have to be in its life, not even child support––"

"No, Kimmie, if you carry it, I will be the best father it could ever, ever––"

Another kiss. When they broke apart, Shego heaved a gasp.

"Princess, where'd you learn to do that?"

"I think it's the hormones. Sorry."

Shego laughed.

"Shego, how'd your emotions flip so fast?" Kim asked suspiciously.

"Well…I'm _used_ to the shitty part. This is fun. And you're kind of cute on steroids."

She put a hand on Kim's abdomen and stared deep into the determined hazel eyes. She felt Kim's tiny, warm, wet hand cover her big one. At that moment she realized that Kim was worth all the heartache in the world. Here was a neon-lighted chance to fix her life––by stepping back from a life of crime and endless struggle, Shego would take care of the hero-turned-victim and the science-fiction child she carried. This was her destiny.


	8. Try Something with Diff Ending

**Yay for coming out on but I'm asexual and Catholic and consequentially rather tasteful about romance…hope you like it.**

"Let me get this straight––your mad scientist blew up the machine?"

"Yeah––but we can get a new one from Cyrus Bortel, can't we? He makes this stuff all the time," Shego pleaded for a positive answer.

"Not since he disappeared," Hego muttered darkly. Kim had pulled up a regular chair next to her boyfriend's green one––all the other seats at the Go Table occupied by their rightful owners and Ron and Monique also had to pull up chairs.

"What _I_ don't understand," said Mego, "is how you left me there so long, _Shego_."

"Mego, if Drakken got all of Team Go's powers, you'd still be trapped in a jar somewhere and Hego and the boys would have been in danger too. How could I risk that?" She turned back to her oldest brother. "Hego, did you say Bortel––disappeared?"

"Yeah––ever since Drakken stole the sex-change ray, if Kim's computer kid's calculations are correct."

"The nerdlinger never lies," Shego sighed. "And poor Kimmie's pregnant."

"Poor Kimmie?" Hego repeated, confused. "But that's wonderful! Congratulations, Kim."

"Hego, she's _eighteen_," Shego snapped in an exaggerated voice. "And I'm the father."

Silence fell over the Go Tower.

"Shego, you don't have to give up on the laser and start doing it with girls––"

"Mego, seriously? Of course I didn't have sex with Kim. Drakken stole some of my––well, you know––and she was artificially inseminated. That's why he changed me––to breed the ultimate fighting machine. And I'm supposed to murder Kimmie as soon as she's done giving birth and bring the baby to Drakken."

"Wait, you're gonna––"

"Of _course_ I'm not going to hurt Kimmie!" Shego exclaimed. "Or swipe the kid!"

"Sis, maybe you should take a break from the whole dating thing––"

"Won't you listen? Hego, I'm a LESBIAN. I––don't––like––men. Never did, never will, period. I think that's your problem more than mine," she said wryly. "But that has NOTHING to do with Kimmie having my baby. Excuse me."

Shego rose and went to one of the hallways.

"Make sure you use the right bathroom, sister!" Hego called after her.

"Oh you can shove it up your ass."

"Don't worry, Hego," said Ron genially. "She's got surprisingly stellar aim."

But Kim had a feeling that that wasn't where Shego had gone. She excused herself also and sprinted down the hallway she'd seen the older boy go, until she was close enough to follow the sound of footprints.

"Shego?" she called to a dark figure at the end of a very long corridor. The figure turned around and waited, silent. "Shego, where are you going?" Kim asked.

Shego stared at Kim, and decided it was useless even trying to make up an alibi. "When I left here––it was after college but before I was arrested for killing my father––I didn't take anything with me but my name and the clothes on my back. I haven't been back here since but I wanted to go back up to my room and get something."

Kim twined her hand with Shego's. "Mind if I come with?"

"You'll make it that much easier, I suppose. Thanks, princess."

Kim just gave Shego's hand a squeeze. _Yeah, a hand that used to want to char her to bits. I can't believe she's this close to me. Does this mean she trusts me yet?_

"Shego, what's prison like?"

"Say what?"

"What's prison like?" Kim repeated in a subdued voice.

"I'm not mad at you for doing the right thing, dollface."

"You're not? Why?"

"Hey, it was strictly professional."

"Now it's not?"

"I quit, princess. Doy."

"Right." It seemed so horrible now, the idea of Shego alone in a cold, dark prison cell, wearing a moldy orange jumpsuit and living on meat of more alarming mystery than anyone at Middleton High had ever had to put up with. She would certainly never get any visitors unless some lecher was trying to break her out and as one of the highest security prisoners in the place, she had to be among the most abused.

"Princess, it's okay," Shego said. "I lived. Note living body."

"Note masculine physique," Kim replied. "I feel responsible for that. Anyone could've tried to reach out to you, but we didn't want to think you had a heart."

"It had been reduced to a very fine powder––easy to miss, sweetheart."

"That doesn't exactly make me feel any better––"

"Yeah well," Shego sighed dismissively. "I'm happy."

"Seriously?"

"Well I've got you, right? You and Princess Junior…"

"What if it's a boy? What then?"

"I think we should start going to church to make sure she's not."

Kim smiled to think that now she was most at peace like this––her fingers interwoven with those of the former psychotic arch-villain with whom she was now passionately in love.

"Kimmie, I don't want you to feel guilty," Shego whispered in a sad voice after a long silence.

"There's so much to be––"

"No, there isn't. Bad choices are a downward spiral and I, by my own accord, made a lot of them. I made too many never to pay dearly, pumpkin, but I did make one good one: I left you as far out of it as I could. I'll take the baby and be a guy forever and you'll go on."

They reached the end of the corridor, which was circular and slightly wider than the rest, like a cul-de-sac. There were five doors here––two were red, one was blue, one was purple, and one was green. Shego ignited her right hand and held it to the censor to make the door open. She smiled at Kim. "Ladies first."

Kim took her cue and entered the room, expecting a snowy terrain of dust. Shego clapped her hands once and the lights brightened a pristinely dusted and vacuumed apartment. Kim sat down on the green, queen-sized comforter.

"Huh, they kept it up. That was nice of them," said Shego. "It was probably the twins."

"So you haven't been up here since you were part of Team Go?" Kim asked.

"Not even for a minute. Where––oh––good."

Shego crossed the room and came back to Kim with a tiny rock in her hand. She closed her eyes and squeezed the rock––at the same time her hands ignited and then went out. She held out the rock to Kim.

"What is it?" Kim asked, in awe of the little stone that glowed green.

"It's a piece of the comet that originally gave us our powers. Now I'm giving my powers to you. I think I've proven that I can't be trusted."

"Shego, without your powers, you'll be extremely vulnerable," Kim said. "I'm used to fighting without power. You're not."

"I got you into this mess," Shego said, "and I owe you, big. The least I can do is make sure you're protected."

"Shego, take your powers back," Kim pleaded. Holding Shego's hands in hers, she felt scared. Suddenly, her hands felt warm and Shego was blasted backward.

"Don't be scared," Shego said.

"What? How did you––"

"That's what caused you to blast me." She stood and looked upon Kim with a loving smile that even touched her eyes.

"I did that to you?" Kim asked, horrified. Suddenly there was a very easy grace about Shego. With strong but exceedingly gentle hands, he pushed Kim backward onto the bed. "Shego, wha––"

"Shhh. I want to try something."

Kimmie looked oddly subdued and vulnerable, but she didn't ask any questions. A wide grin spread over the black-haired youth's face. How long had Shego waited in a woman's body for this moment? This was the only way it could come. So be it.

It wasn't sexual. It was romantic. They didn't even kiss. It was touching and laughing and whispering and all sorts of intimacy completely unbeknownst to their unbothered clothes. The time Shego had spent just longing to hold Kimmie this lovingly, there was simply no means to count, and now the dream was here.

They fell asleep in each other's arms, all pain forgotten. They had never slept so soundly, they had never breathed so deeply. It was as if they had never loved before.

"Where am I?"

Shego opened her eyes in the darkness, feeling cold and alone. Her body ached and throbbed all over the place. Her hands were bound above her head and her feet were also bound, clearing the floor by a good eighteen inches. Would Kimmie come and save the day or had her trust waned again? As if to answer, there was a sudden shuffling of someone's feet.

"Shego?" asked a gentle voice. Out of the darkness stepped Kim. She was filthy and wearing her mission gear.

"Kimmie?" Shego asked, hardly daring to believe her eyes.

"Shego! I'm so glad I found you. Are you alright?"

"Better now. What happened?"

But Kim gave a horrible leer and jammed a knife deep into Shego's side.


	9. I Guess We're Back to This

**Nearing the end…**

It was impossible to scream. Shego could only screw her face shut as Kimmie twisted the blade inside her. She felt it slice easily through her back and scrape the stone she was bound against. Her heartbeat was terrifying, magnified a hundredfold by the gaping opening in her side. Hot blood saturated her clothes. In utter agony she threw her head back and prepared to die. How was it possible that Kimmie could do this?

_Anything's possible for a Possible._

How often had she heard these words? How often had she countered and derided them with sarcastic slights? Maybe she deserved to die this way right now. Maybe she deserved to be buried in the wrong body. Maybe…

***

"Shego!" Kim screamed. She didn't know who had done it, but there Shego was, unconscious and bound to the wall, bleeding from the spectacular wound in her side and from her mouth.

"Don't be dead, don't be dead…"

"She's breathing, K.P.," said Ron, going closer to the victim. Monique looked like a ghost of her usual energetic self.

"Kim Possible, how nice of you to join us. Do bring Shego's power here."

The red haired teenager turned on her heel to find Dr. Drakken.

"Never!" she exclaimed. "Let Shego go for your own good––Global Justice is on the way."

"Fine," said the mad scientist, and he pressed a button and Shego, released from her bonds, crumpled to the ground, first hitting her knees, then her face.

"Everyone remain still. Global Justice agents are now entering the scene."

"Can we get any footage of the crime?" one of the agents asked.

"Wade?" said Kim. The young boy walked up to the agent with the Kimmunicator and pressed buttons until he had what he wanted to show them. Kim ran over to see. She was horrified.

"Drakken, you tampered with this footage!" she cried.

"What?"

"Miss Possible, we know you rivaled Shego for so long that this doesn't seem entirely unlikely," said one of the agents. "We're going to have to––"

"YOU'RE HERE TO SAVE SHEGO, YOU PRICK BASTARDS!" Kim bellowed. It was only as the dozens of agents now filling the lair began to close in on her that Kim remembered Shego's gift to her.

_"It's the least I can do to protect you."_

_Yeah, well, if you'd have kept your powers like I told you, we wouldn't be in this mess._

As pain and anger and fear filled Kim she felt her hands grow hot.

"She has Shego's power? No wonder she killed her!"

"How many of you are there? Fifty? Well, you're going to need reinforcements."

Knocking out Drakken's henchmen and the G.J. officers turned out to be easier than it looked, mostly because they had such scant room to move to escape.

"Kim!"

"Hego? Mego? Wegos?"

"We're here to help!"

With Ron, Wade, and Monique blocking the exits and Kim and Team Go doing their stuff, the job was done within fifteen minutes. The worst part was watching Shego die.

***

"Shego, Shego, please don't be dead, please––stay with me. I can't live without you. Stay for me, stay for our child. Please!"

Someone was holding her hand around a small, hard object. Shego felt weak but somehow better than when whatever had happened before she––oh––she had been stabbed! The wound throbbed dully but it no longer even felt like a cut, let alone a hole clean through her.

Her tongue, her mouth, her teeth, and lips were all covered in dried blood. Shego knew she had to open her eyes or make some movement but she couldn't find a way to make her body follow her commands.

_Am I dead?_

"Come on, Shego!"

Somebody stroked hair off her forehead. Kimmie. But Kimmie had attacked her. Kimmie had put Shego through the most terrible pain she had ever felt. Again.

"K––K––Kuh––Kuh––"

Something was caught in her throat. It was spit. Shego forced herself to sit up and she felt stronger arms than hers hold her there.

"Oh gosh, Monique––"

"Okay, she's frothing––"

"Shego, it's okay," Kim said in a loud and panicked voice. "Keep breathing. Help is on the way. Don't be scared."

Strong hands wiped her face with warm towels. She felt gentle fingers in her hair. But she still couldn't make her eyes open.

"Wade, can you do a full body scan?" Kim's voice asked. Wade seemed to comply. There was a buzzing sound and then a thoughtful silence from the young boy.

"Snake venom," he said. "Looks like a few kinds in there too. She had enough superpower left in her system to heal up the stab wound okay because the impact was the most immediate thing but when the venom spread her body couldn't fight it. That explains why she was frothing at the mouth and why her eyes are closed. It also explains the muscle weakness and her inability to speak."

Kim was cradling her beloved's body like an adult-sized baby, but Shego had just about exhausted her life supply or horror. She didn't care what came next, but she hoped that whatever it was, Kim would stop turning on her at all the wrong moments. She wanted her old body back. Suddenly her senses failed and everything dissolved.

Kim felt around her pocket until she recovered Shego's comet stone, and held it tightly in Shego's fist until she was sure that the superpower had been restored to its rightful master. Even though Shego turned green again, she looked a lot healthier with virtual exigency.

***

"Kim! I think I've got a lead on the laser––it isn't destroyed––and if you want to switch Shego back we have about thirty seconds before the henchmen and G.J. start waking up."

"Fine. Let's do this."

Hego lifted Shego and the whole procession followed Wade, who was following the direction of the Kimmunicator. Kim could hear her assailants stirring.

"Here we are," Hego said as he laid his dying sister in front of the laser.

"Hurry up!" Wade said. "It shouldn't hurt her."

***

Kim stared in horror as the one thing that made sense in her life lay spread-eagled on the floor as though for dead, and suddenly time seemed to stand still, and she knew what she had to do.

"KP, Shego wouldn't want you to fight," Ron reproved her, but Kim shoved past him and ran to the dying figure that housed the precious soul of her Everything.

"Shego, Shego, come on, gotta wake up, gotta beat Drakken at his own game…" Kim begged the unconscious figure but for all the good it did, she might've given up. Shego's head rolled backward and his blank white eyes stared up at Kim like a bad horror movie, his jaw completely slack and the dark lips hanging open.

"Come on, Shego, the ray is back," Kim whispered frantically. But there was simply no waking her sallow-skinned beloved, who knocked so heavily upon death's door…Death seemed impatient…

"Shego, I know you want to be a girl again," Kim said. "While Drakken is incapacitated, just please––put one foot in front of the other––"

Hego scooped her up and lay him in front of the sex-change laser. "Are you sure this is what my sister wants, Miss. Possible?" he asked.

"I––I think––" was all that Kim could say.

"Then you'd better go shoot her. At least, I think it's best if the pregnant lady stays at the safe end of the sex-change laser."

"Right," Kim said, and she climbed up to the control panel. She put her hand on the lever…

_"I can't go through with it."_

_"Wait––what?"_

_"I can't kill it, Shego. I think I love it."_

_"Kimmie, why? I thought we both agreed it was the best thing for the child––"_

_"Shego, did you see those tools?"_

_"Yes, but it'll only hurt for a second––Kimmie, we've got to protect it from the mad science that spawned it, and the mad science that'll be tailing it all its life. We don't have a choice. What if it comes out with eyeballs where its nipples should be?"_

_This earned a smile through the redhead's relentless sobs. Then it faded._

_"Shego, I––I just can't. It's a part of me, just like it's a part of you. I know that things will be fine––you don't have to be in its life, not even child support––"_

_"No, Kimmie, if you want it, I will be the best father it could ever, ever––"_

She pulled her hand away from the trying lever. "What's the deal, KP?" Ron called. "You're so close to helping Shego!"

She looked tearfully down at the unconscious young man lying helplessly below the laser, who had so valiantly sworn himself to their child out of love for Kim, and Kim knew that Shego would trade his old life for her out of love. But Shego's secret pain was his perpetuated desire to be the beautiful young woman he once was. There was a frown across his verdant face as though he could tell exactly what Kim was deliberating. Shego's frown was probably––if it even existed outside of Kim's imagination––formed out of concern for Kim and not for himself.

_"Mom, I think the problem is that I feel guilty for what happened to Shego," Kim's voice said. She sounded like she was crying. Shego felt her heart melt for the girl who had helped her so much and who had asked for so little in return._

_"You didn't fire a sex-change ray at her, did you?" Mrs. Possible questioned._

_"No––Mom, promise you won't tell?"_

_"Kimmie-cub, who would I tell?"_

_"I think I like Shego this way. Yes. That way."_

_"Oh," Mrs. Dr. Possible's voice said, shocked. "Oh, oh dear. Can you try and contain it?"_

_"There's no need," Shego said, stepping into the pantry. She held out her arms and caught Kim in a comforting hug. "Princess, you could've told me. It's okay."_

_"I'm really sorry, Shego," Kim sobbed._

_Shego had somehow never exactly foreseen herself in a tuxedo in the Possibles' pantry holding up an incoherently distraught Kimmie, but these things happen._

_"Can I tell you something?" Shego asked._

_"Anything," Kim sobbed._

_"Did you ever wonder why I've always been so keen to save you, or why I never held down a boyfriend for long?"_

_"I just assumed I was better than you––"_

_Shego smiled and put a finger on Kim's joking lips to silence her._

_"I know, I know, I know, kid. But there was something I never had the guts to say––until now, that is."_

_"What?"_

_"Well, I'm older than you, old enough to have been a high school teacher to you; and I've always been your enemy as long as we've known each other. I had to love you from a distance. So, I guess that if my new body helps me get what I've wanted so long, then you've helped me, not hurt. I guess what I'm trying to say is…I love you."_

"I love you too, Shego," Kim whispered. "But I'm not ready for that to end."

"What are you waiting for?" Mego called.

Suddenly they were at Smarty Mart, looking for a new carseat.

_"Things could always be this way," Shego whispered. "They'll never be able to change me back. I might as well roll with the punches, you know?"_

_"Shego––we can't give up," Kim said. "We _will_ find a way."_

_"Thanks princess," Shego said, "but you're straight, and I think I'd rather stay this way with you than live any way without you…"_

In an instant, Kim felt as though the whole world faded out. A face was swimming before her––sallow-skinned but delicate with dark lips and electric green eyes––a mane of beautiful black hair––

"You _don't_ have to do this," the figure seemed to say. She wore an unfailing smile that held nothing but the purest of love. "I'll go with whatever you want. I love you, Kimmie…"

She came back. She looked down at the floor and the dying boy who lay there, and that was precisely when Kim Possible realized her own fatal flaw: Shego would've got her to the laser before a fight could even start, and Kim hesitated even now, because she loved Shego best in a form that made her love unhappy: it was time to let her go. It was what Shego wanted that didn't matter a bit, and that was precisely why it was the only thing that ever mattered. She pulled the lever back––and hit her target. Shego's entire body rose into the air, encased in a light so white it was almost blue. Her arms were spread out and hanging down below her body. On her face was the ghost of a smile. Kim knew she had done the right thing.

Ron caught her before she fell back to the floor––a catlike female figure with a body of exquisite black hair and doll-like features. "Kim, the paramedics are here," Wade pointed out.

A man and a woman came into the lair and took Shego into their ambulance. Kim sat in the back at Shego's head, stroking the long black hair and kissing the sallow jaw.

"You're Kim Possible, right?" an EMT asked her.

"Yeah," Kim replied.

"Isn't this Shego?" the lady asked. "Isn't she your adversary?"

"She…was. But she switched sides. For good."

"I didn't know you were pregnant. So _that's_ why you haven't been on a whole lotta missions. Who's the lucky guy?"

Kim pointed down at Shego.

"Seriously? I mean, I heard rumors that Shego was really a––"

"No, it's nothing like that. It's exactly what the tabloids say. Well, the latest ones, at any rate. Drakken's got a sex-change ray, and he used it on her, destroyed it, and said he'd only fix it if she made a baby with me and killed me. Then we went to his lair to try and force him to turn her back, and he forced her to get me pregnant."

"So you turned her back?"

"About a second before you got to the scene." Kim said.

Shego moved in her unconscious state and mumbled slightly, brushing her face with her tiny hand.

"Shego?" Kim whispered.

"Hi, Kim…ahhhhh…" came the precious unconscious reply.

"She's not going to wake up till tomorrow, probably," the EMT told Kim, a wry smile on her face. "But at least she knows you're here."

"Yeah," Kim said, laughing too, because only Shego would place that kind of confidence in her. She didn't deserve it.


	10. Knight in Shining Armor

It was impossible to watch Shego's chest rising and waning for hours through the night, but at the same time there was nowhere else Kim would rather be. Once a tough and impervious tower of sarcastic strength, Shego had proven herself to be sensitive, loyal, compassionate, honest, and––sadly–– quite breakable. It was hard to see the beautiful international bandit struggling for breath, unconscious and in a full body cast.

As dawn began to light the city, Shego's eyelids began to flutter. Her fingers inched further around Kim's warm hands and finally she opened electric green eyes with heavy lids, looking confused and afraid.

"Kimmie?" she gasped, groping her throat when she recognized the change in her voice even though it was raspy. Her eyes turned into baseballs. "I––you––did you hear that?"

Kim smiled. "Yes, Shego," she replied.

Kim reached for the lamp and turned it on. "You okay?" Shego asked in an airy, guttural voice. Her wistful eyes took in the full body cast that encased her.

"I'm just fine," Kim replied. "Everyone is fine. Just worried about you."

"I'm a little rusty in the hero department, I guess," Shego said in the same gravelly voice. "What happened? Last thing I remember, Drakken was winning––"

"But just for the moment. We won overall." Kim smiled. "I found the laser. You're a girl again."

Shock overcame every feature of Shego's face. "I am?"

"Completely back to normal. Sorry you can't enjoy it yet but you broke just about every bone doctors know the name of. And Drakken's in jail. How are you feeling?"

"Fine, for the moment."

"How's your head? That was some fall you broke with it."

"I know. I can't believe I'm alive. Yeah––even me." Her eyes shot all around the hospital room, terrified.

"My mom said that she might be able to get you out of that cast in a week, if we're lucky."

"Your mom?"

"She works as a brain surgeon but she's also trained in other fields in medicine, of course. I took you to the best. Anyway, after the way you hit your head, you needed someone to check you out. Nobody opened your skull or anything," she added as an afterthought when Shego blanched.

"Thanks, Kimmie," Shego said. "How long have I been out?"

"Eight hours, maybe. It's okay––they drugged you into next month. Speaking of which, are you in any pain?"

"Eh, it's pretty dull," Shego replied. "Not too bad, Kimmie."

Kim looked down at her abdomen, which was bloated with Shego's child. She looked like she was seven months pregnant, but everyone knew she had been made pregnant just three months ago. It made her sad to think that she would want to break it off with Shego, just because Shego had become a woman again. She had to keep her feelings to herself until her female boyfriend could recover.

"Who're––_Betty_?!"

Kim turned in time to see Betty Director, eyepatch and all, entering the room. She was flanked by four strapping men, all wearing dark glasses. None of them said anything.

"Shego, I need you to turn your head toward Miss Possible, please," Betty said, turning up on the opposite side from Kim.

"What? Betty, I seriously _just_ woke up."

"You'll have time to do that later." Betty brandished a giant needle and squeezed out some of the drug into the air. Then she jammed it into a deliberate looking hole in the cast along the nape of Shego's neck. Shego's eyes became like saucers and she roared in pain.

"What––"

"Truth serum," Kim hissed indignantly. "Oh no––Shego, cover up your mouth––"

Shego made to obey but G.J. was prepared. Two men took each of her hands and handcuffed her to the sides of the bed. Kim's heart broke when Shego's eyes filled up with tears.

"Why are you doing this?" Shego asked Betty. Her eyes grew fuzzy. Betty leaned over her; they were nose to nose, locked in an Eskimo kiss of doom.

"What did Drakken need that entailed parading _you_ around in drag?"

"I wasn't in drag…euh…" she began to slur her words. "I…I…got turned into a boy. Sex-change ray…he wanted to breed the ultimate fighter––Drakken, I mean, and Kimmie is its mother. I'm gay, by the way, so that works for me. Kimmie is _hot_, don't you think, Betty? Can you believe that I'm supposed to kill that hotness? Well, doy!––of course I never would, but…aw man…"

"Shego, who attacked you?" Betty asked. Shego cast a sorrowful look over at Kim and her eyes filled up with tears.

"Kimmie!" she sobbed. "Oh I remember now. Why did you do that to me?"

"I––Betty––can I have a shot of that stuff too?"

"Kim, you can't deny it. You were there. I was there. You stabbed me and twisted the blade around. I mean, you looked like you were having fun––or do princesses have so much warped fun that they forget even the most recent sick things?"

Kim's eyes filled up with tears. Was she crazy? _Had_ she tried to slaughter Shego? She only remembered the shock of watching the act on the screen of the Kimmunicator.

"Shego," she whispered earnestly, taking Shego's hand in hers. "It wasn't me. It has to have been a trick."

Shego choked back tears and managed to say, "I wish I could believe you."

"Kim, you're free for now but we will find you when we get more solid proof of what you did. I think we can tap into the Kimmunicator. We can track you anywhere in the world, so it's worthless to try anything. Shego might be a hideous criminal but that is no excuse to mutilate her. I'm surprised, disappointed, and deeply disturbed. _This is why we shouldn't call in private help._"

"I'm not a criminal!" Shego called as the five G.J. officials left. "I mean, I used to be but I'm not…Kim, I don't understand why you tried to kill me."

"Shego, I would never try to kill you," Kim pleaded.

"You have before. I don't trust you at all."

Kim buried her face in her hands. "This time it wasn't me!" she wailed.

"I really want you to leave," Shego said. "I don't know if I can forgive you for this. I realize now that we can't be together. I can't even know you. I thought I could forgive you for anything. But the way you smiled while you twisted that knife––Kim, there's something seriously wrong with you. I'm no doctor, but there is."

Then she passed out.

"Kimmie-cub? How's Shego?"

"Mom," Kim gasped.

"Honey, why are you crying? She'll be fine. This is nothing I haven't seen before––"

"Drakken tampered with the footage of the attack so it looks like I did it, and Shego remembers me doing it too. How could she think that? And G.J. wants to send me to jail."

Dr. Possible's eyes bugged out. "Jail? Don't worry, Kimmie, we'll get you out of this. Did Shego testify?"

"On truth serum," Kim replied.

"Oh. That's not good."

"What now?" Kim asked.

"You should go home and get some rest."

"I can't leave her. She's terrified of hospitals."

"It looks like she's terrified of you, too," her mother said.

"I'm staying."

Her mother sighed. "I'll get a bed in here."

Shego awoke in the middle of the night and was alarmed to find herself handcuffed to a bed in a hospital. She was so frightened that she screamed.

"Shego?" Kim asked. "Is everything alright?"

"Kim," Shego gasped. "Don't hurt me again! Please!"

"Relax, Shego," Kim said, getting out of bed to approach her boyfriend. "I gave you your powers back when you were unconscious back at Drakken's place. You can undo your restraints…and now you're the one who's armed."

"Stand back," Shego said. Her hands glowed and in a flash of green light the handcuffs clanged aside. Kim walked slowly nearer, her hands in the air.

"Can I talk to you?" she asked.

Shego surveyed her. "I guess." Kim cleared her throat.

"I love you, Shego. I love you more than anything or anyone. But I need you to trust me. Drakken played a trick on everyone. I would never have done what the impostor––"

"Impostor?" Shego repeated pensively. "Of course. Camille Leon."

Kim was shocked. "Let me run that by Wade," she said.

"Kim? It's three A.M.," yawned the young boy.

"But you're still up," Kim observed.

"What's the sitch?"

"Shego just suggested that maybe the me that stabbed her was Camille."

Wade grinned. "Great minds think alike. That's the lead I've been working on. It's actually why I'm still awake. Surprise!"

Kim grinned. "Thanks, Wade."

"Get some rest."

"Thank you."

Kim clicked the blue device off and returned to Shego, pecking her on the cheek. Shego actually smiled. "What was that for?" she asked playfully.

"Oh, just everything."

"Move your bed here," Shego said softly. Kim did as she was told. When the beds were pressed against each other Kim rested her head on Shego's shoulder. Her lover grinned. "That's what I'm talking about."

"You believe me?" Kim asked the older girl. Shego grinned.

"What do you think, princess?"

"Shego," Kim said. She knelt over Shego, wringing her hands. "I need to talk to you. I didn't want to so soon, but––"

"You were waiting for a chance to try out my new penis and now you wish we could just be friends," Shego said. Kim's heart began to pound. Shego continued, "but you love me and because of that you might even feel a little bit attracted to me––yeah the body casts are selling like hotcakes at Club Banana right now––but, Kimmie, it's your happiness that matters to me. Did I get everything right?"

"Ridiculously," Kim replied.

"Did I cover all the bases?" Shego raised an eyebrow suspiciously.

Kim made a face. "Not quite," she sighed.

"What's wrong?" Shego asked gently, extending a mummified hand to Kim's forearm. In doing so she accidentally upset her oxygen tube and Kim fixed it before spitting out the truth.

"I…I almost didn't turn you back," she said softly. "Everything was ready, and Hego told me to pull the lever so if something went wrong I wouldn't lose my uterus. I almost didn't pull it because I wanted you to stay the way you were. That's unforgivable."

"But you did pull the lever," Shego said.

"I almost cost us our window of opportunity."

"But you changed me because you love me more than you love yourself. Thank you, Kimmie. Please lay back down. I'm cold."

Kim got up and removed the blankets from her bad and draped them over Shego. Then she resumed her place at Shego's shoulder. "There. All better?"

"Oh yes."

Shego was finding it hard to think about the future––about losing Kimmie because she wanted something else––because she was so full of joy in the present. But she knew that way too soon, a day would come when she would have to set her princess free. She gazed down at Kimmie as best she could. Kim muttered in her sleep, as if she could hear Shego's thoughts, "Knight in shining armor."

"My cast shines?" Shego muttered. With certain difficulty she maneuvered her neck just enough to Kiss the top of Kimmie's head.


End file.
